A Bastard and a Loser
by Kayami Naru
Summary: Everyone needs to be reassured that you're someone and that someone needs them. Korra and Tahno make sure that the other knows that.


"That wasn't very nice, you know," the former Wolf Bat muttered as he slid his hands down the sides of Korra's body. With a lazy grin, the avatar arched at his touch and chuckled.

"We were in the middle of a match, my team mates were right there. Was I supposed to let you beat me?" she asked, the sarcasm dripping in her voice. Tahno snorted and tweaked her nipple sharply, earning a cry from the water benders poised above him. His fingers left her chest then and tickled down her abs and stomach toward the hem of her pants, all the while his lips pursed in thought.

"No, I suppose not. Your little loser of a fire bender would have lectured you and that always upsets you. Although, the sex after those lectures _is _amazing, I prefer you not to be unhappy," his voice was genuine as he spoke and Korra felt a strange feeling bubbling in her chest as she ran her fingers over the former water bender's check and watched happily as his eyes closed in appreciation of the touch.

"In retrospect, giving you that win wouldn't have been that big a deal, since Amon…" Korra trailed off as Tahno's eyes snapped open and for a moment, shown with bright rage. Suddenly, the world was being flipped over and Tahno was towering over the Avatar and glaring angrily.

"Don't pity me, Korra. I don't want that from you of all people," he hissed. Korra flinched from the angry words, knowing it was serious as he spit her name. Tahno watched guiltily as regret, guilt, and unhappiness flickered through his lover's eyes before they settle into a hard ice and she stared at him blankly. With a deep sigh, the wolf bat slid off the girl below him and sat on the edge of his bed with his back to her. He felt her shift slowly, hesitantly, to sit up and hug her knees to her chest. Glancing back at her, he gazed at her as she laid her cheek against her knees and stared back at him. He sighed again quietly as he turned and looked at his hands.

"I can't take it from you, Uh-vatar. Everywhere I go, someone is looking at me with that damn look in their eyes, like I'm some kicked puppy that can't even fucking _stand._ I can't stand it. I just want people to look at me the way they used to. _Fuck, _maybe, even not the same way, just not _that _way. Not with that pity shining in their eyes."

It was quiet for a few moments, and Korra could tell that tears were dripping down the cocky ex-bender's face. Slowly, she reached a hand out and brushed it against his back to get his attention. When he didn't turn, the avatar grabbed his shoulder and jerked him back. He fell without resistance, his legs hanging off the edge of the bed and his head resting just in front of her feet. He was looking up at her with a scowl and tears shining in his dark eyes. Korra reached forward and wiped them away gently, watching as he closed his eyes and sighed at her touch.

"Pretty boy, you can't dwell on this. People see that you're unhappy, that _you _haven't moved on. How can you expect them too if you don't? Show them that you're more than just a bender, that you're Tahno," a smiled crept across her face, "A cocky bastard with a job at a flower shop and hair more fabulous than any girls." Korra grinned at the smirk on his lips and watched as one of his brows rose and his eyes slid open.

"I'm a bastard, am I?" he drawled as he smirked at her. Korra chuckled and nodded as she ran her fingers through her lover's hair and smirked. Tahno looked at her for a moment, her eyes shining happily and her mouth a lazy grin as she touched his face, ears, hair, mouth, and he felt an odd feeling rumble in his chest. Slowly, he reached out a hand and touched face with the very tips of his fingers. Her hand stilled on his face and her eyes shifted to him and he was suddenly drowning in ice water.

"I like you, Uh-vatar," he whispered, his mouth working without his mind's permission and his heart skipping a beat. Korra stared at him blankly for a moment before her body moved without her permission and suddenly she was kissing Tahno harder than she ever had and her whole body was straining to be closer to him. His hands, warm and much larger than her own, wrapped easily around her waist and rolled her over his lap and held her there as he devoured her mouth in desperate need.

"Is this real?" Korra breathed, begged, as Tahno pulled away from her mouth and left a hot trail of kisses along her jaw.

"What do you mean, Uh-vatar?" Tahno mutter in her ear before taking her lobe between his teeth and nibbling gently. Korra moaned quietly against his shoulder and shook her head as she tried to retain her train of thought. With her hands on his shoulders, she pushed herself up and stared at him with insecurity shimmering in her eyes. She looked at him for a long moment before unwanted tears gathered in her eyes and she had to look away.

"Did you mean what you said, or is it just to get in my pants?" she muttered, suddenly bitter with the image of Mako and Asami in her head. He had told her that she was amazing, and then run off to his prissy girlfriend and all her money and beauty. Jealously and bitterness rose in the form of hot tears and suddenly, Korra needed to be alone. Not giving Tahno a chance to answer, she rose from her seat on his lap and looked around for her shirt. Tahno was sitting up immediately and following her around as she grabbed her shirt from the top of his dresser and pulled it roughly over her head.

"Korra, wait, what's going on? Of course this is real, I wouldn't be fucking you if it wasn't real," he said as she began the search for her boots. Korra glared at him over her shoulder and let out another bitter laugh.

"Did you say that to all your fan girls before me?" She didn't know where this jealousy, insecurity, or bitterness was coming from but they were hot and angry in her chest and she could feel them in the tears burning tracks down her cheeks. She needed to get out of here, get away from these feelings of rejection and the feeling that she was just being used. Finally finding her boots, she pulled them on roughly and pushed past a shell shocked Tahno. She was almost to the door when a hand wrapped around her upper arm and pulled her tightly to a pro-bender's chest. She fought his hold, pulling away and shaking.

"Let me go!" she cried, pulling sharply against his hold.

"Listen to me, Korra," he growled, the tone of his voice stopping her struggles. She looked up at him with a teary glare, which he returned with a glare of his own.

"Yes, I've slept with other women, Korra, and I'm sorry, but I can't change that. It's the past and it's done. I know that you're insecure after Mako's rejection, and I'm sorry for that, but I'm not Mako and I'm not an idiot. So, you're just going to have to trust that this is more to me than a tryst, this is as real as anything has ever been for me."

He was panting now, the weight of his speech sinking in as Korra trembled in his hold. As he regained his breath, he could see the hope shining in her eyes. Slowly, he released her wrists and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her gently, but firmly, to his chest. She gripped his shirt in her hands tightly and held onto this life line that he was throwing her. Amongst the sea of fear and jealously, anger and bitterness, the hope that Tahno was telling the truth kept her afloat.

"I like you too, Tahno. Even though you're a bastard." His chest rumbled with a chuckle as he leaned away and smirked down at her.

"And I like you, even though you're a loser."


End file.
